and was going to dive to see where this stone lay, when, behold, it started up to the surface spontaneously into his hand!  The people were astonished at the sight:  The stone was deposited as sacred in the house of the Eatooa; and is still preserved at Bolabola, as a proof of this woman’s influence with the divinity.  Their spirits being thus elevated with the hopes of victory, the canoes of Bolabola set out to engage those of Ulietea and Huaheine, which being strongly fastened together with ropes, the encounter lasted long, and would probably, notwithstanding the prediction and the miracle, have ended in the overthrow of the Bolabola fleet, if that of Otaha had not, in the critical moment, arrived.  This turned the fortune of the day, and their enemies were defeated with great slaughter.  The men of Bolabola, prosecuting their victory, invaded Huaheine two days after, which they knew must be weakly defended, as most of its warriors were absent.  Accordingly, they made themselves masters of that island.  But many of its fugitives having got to Otaheite, there told their lamentable story; which so grieved those of their countrymen, and of Ulietea, whom, they met with in that island, that they obtained some assistance from them.  They were equipped with only ten fighting canoes; but, though their force was so inconsiderable, they conducted the expedition with so much prudence, that they landed at Huaheine at night, when dark, and, falling upon the Bolabola men by surprise, killed many of them, forcing the rest to fly.  So that, by this means, they got possession of their island again, which now remains independent, under the government of its own chiefs.  Immediately after the defeat of the united fleets of Ulietea and Huaheine, a proposal was made to the Bolabola men by their allies of Otaha, to be admitted to an equal share of the conquests.  The refusal of this broke the alliance; and in the course of the war, Otaha itself, as well as Ulietea, was conquered; and both now remain subject to Bolabola; the chiefs who govern them being only deputies of Opoony, the sovereign of that island.  In the reduction of the two islands, five battles were fought at different places, in which great numbers were slain on both sides.

Such was the account we received.  I have more than once remarked, how very imperfectly these people recollect the exact dates of past events.  And with regard to this war, though it happened not many years ago, we could only guess at the time of its commencement and its conclusion, from collateral circumstances, furnished by our own observation, as the natives could not satisfy our enquiries with any precision.  The final conquest of Ulietea, which closed the war, we know had been made before I was there in the Endeavour, in 1769; but we may infer, that peace had not been very long restored, as we could then see marks of recent hostilities having been committed upon that island.  Some additional light may be thrown upon